The Kite Runner

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Transcript of The Kite Runner

The Kite Runner Sonya Shin Differences Characters Redefined Amir Hassan Baba Chapters to Scenes Setting Themes Characters Characters Themes Setting Similarities The movie stayed true to the novel; every character was portrayed just as they were in the novel. Excluding Hassan, in the novel he has a cleft lip and that was significant because it was a symbol regarding his status as a Hazara. Other than that, all characters were portrayed accordingly in the means of attitude and appearance. The novel was set in present California and past Kabul, Afghanistan. The movie was set in the same way. The novel begins in present time California and then goes to past time Kabul. In the movie, it began in present time California and then went to past time Kabul. The creators of the movie stuck with the chronology of the novel and the setting. The novel is about redemption; redeeming sin. It is about loyalty, the bond of friendship and family, Afghanistan in the midst of a revolution and most importantly it is about forgiveness. In the novel, Hassan has a cleft lip. It symbolizes a lot of things. How different he is, his unpopularity, and that he is different. Like in Foster's How to Read Literature Like A Professor Hassan is 'marked with greatness'.

Other than that, the movie stayed true to the novel. The characters were all present. From the man who drove Amir all over Afghanistan to the women who was stoned in the stadium. The setting does not have many differences. The house was portrayed just like it was in the novel, 'ivory gates and blue tiles'. The streets of Kabul were filled with food, laughing children and bright colors. The streets of Kabul were also filled with homeless men selling their leg for good money and it smelled of petroleum. The setting was portrayed accurately but their is a certain part in the novel that was gone. The camel jockey adventure Sohrab goes on while Amir is looking for him. That part of the novel was completely cut out of the movie. Their is no great significance other than it showed Sohrab's point of view. In the novel, the theme is redemption. In the movie, the theme is redemption but only through the point of view of Amir. The novel is in the point of view of Amir but it also includes the point of view of Baba, Hassan and Sohrab. The film lacks the views of the other characters; how they redeem their sins. The creators of the movie most likely cut the point of view of Sohrab to make the movie simply in the view of Amir for audience purposes. The point of view of Sohrab is his loneliness and hopelessness. It is the point of view many orphaned children had in Afghanistan. He portrayed the monstrosities that happen to Afghanistan children and the terrors of the Taliban. Amir is the main character of the novel and the protagonist in the film. His redefining moment in the novel was when he witnessed Hassan's rape and did not defend him. In the movie, it was when he discovered Hassan was his brother. In both novel and film Amir was a selfish, ungrateful and rude child. He would boss around Hassan and always took him for granted. When he realizes what he has done when he gets Ali and Hassan kicked out is that he stole a father from a son, a brother from a brother and a child from his family. He does not realize that every sin is a version of stealing. Hassan is the protagonist of the novel and the second main character in the film. Hassan is portrayed as loyal, protective, truthful and pure. Hassan is a symbol in the book; he represents a pure heart, the opposite of sin. In the film, Hassan sticks up for Amir and is always loyal. His loyalty led to his rape, and ultimately led to his disappearance. Although Hassan is a good man, his honesty and loyalty got the best of him. He was killed for sticking up for what is right and so he sinned by stealing a father from a son, husband to a wife and brother from a brother. Baba introduces the idea of stealing as the only sin. In the novel, Baba is portrayed as bigger than the world itself to Amir and Hassan. He was the protector and the guardian. Baba sins by stealing a father to a son and a brother from a brother. In the novel Baba is more like Hassan than he is to Amir. Baba sticks up for what is right; their is a significant scene in the novel that was portrayed accurately in the film where the Afghanistan people were discovered smuggling out of Afghanistan. The Soviet Union officer would let them go if a women in the truck would go with him for an hour. Baba sticks up for the women and says that he would rather be killed than let that lady leave. Baba represents all that he stands for. He represents what Amir must become to be a man. The movie sticks to this theme as Amir is repenting his sin by saving Hassan's son. Symbols Their are many symbols in the novel but only few that were portrayed in the film. In the novel:Hassan's cleft lipThe kite Amir's watchHassan's letterAmir's houseHassan's slingshotBeards (Taliban) In the movie:The kiteAmir's watchHassan's letterBeards (Taliban)Books The movie focused more on just Amir's journey. Not the many journeys that were portrayed in the novel. Spring IRP